Missing Princes
by Miller0259
Summary: Az has everyone looking all over for her son, Alexander, during a ball and all DG does is grab a plateful of food and sit on a bench. Or that's what it looked like she was doing... Slight C/DG


Title: Missing Princes  
Characters: DG/Cain, Az/?(you can decide - it's either Ambrose or Adrian Zero....hmmm), and my OC - Alexander  
Timeline: Five-ish years after the eclipse  
Rated PG  
Genre: Humor/Drama (DG kid fluff!)  
Summary: Az has everyone looking all over for her son, Alexander, during a ball and all DG does is grab a plateful of food and sit on a bench. Or that's what it looked like she was doing...

Disclaimer: I don't own Tin Man.

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DG just frowned and started piling finger food onto a plate. She would hide too if she were small enough to get under the tables still. A ball doesn't sound appealing to her, just like she figured it didn't to any four year old boy.

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Cain pinched the bridge of his nose when he heard the news.

As if being on the security detail of an older, mischievous Princess wasn't hard enough – now Az's son, Alexander, had run off and hidden somewhere.

Cain watched DG glance around the room before taking off to a bench in a quiet corner. He frowned as everyone else went to look for the wayward Alexander. Cain would talk to her later, but for now he turned one eye back to the crowd swarming around him.

He knew that DG felt awkward around Alexander, and seemed to lack her usual ease with children. Alex was a quiet little boy, who seemed to clam up whenever people were around, especially DG, but DG knows when to back off. So DG gives Alex his space, and Alex gives her hers.

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DG knew that it looked like she didn't care that her nephew was missing, but she also understood Lex, as she called him (she refused to use the A because both of his parents had one in their name), better than anyone gave her credit for.

So when she put her plate beside her and rearranged her skirts, muttering about how unnecessary all of the ruffles were, she was unsurprised by the snicker that was emitted from the farthest potted plant behind the bench.

"Something funny?" DG asked, glancing sideways. "Besides me talking to a plant of course…"

The snort was from a closer plant this time.

When there was no further comment from the greenery, DG picked up the plate of food and popped a cheese cube in her mouth.

"Want some?" she enquired with a mouthful, swinging the plate over towards the plant. She wasn't expecting Lex to take her first offer, so she set the plate down again after a moment, and leaned back against a nearby column and ate a piece of fruit.

After a minute of watching the party, she looked back at the plate to get another piece of cheese and noticed that a cracker was missing and heard a crunch behind the plant.

DG's mouth twitched into a bit of smile and turned back to people watching. After awhile their plate of food was gone and DG tilted her head and whispered conspiratorially, "I'll be back with more…stay hidden!"

A soft "'kay," was all she was given.

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Cain watched as DG crossed the room and got another large plateful of snacks and returned to the corner again. DG sat the plate down and turned towards the bush, and it looked like she spoke to it, making Cain narrow his eyes.

By the time DG got another plate of food, Cain had figured out what was going on, and laughed to himself as DG let Az continue to search frantically for her Alex.

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"Is there a reason you're hiding?" DG asked when she returned again. When she didn't get a response, she tried a different approach.

"Your mom is looking for you, you know," DG said quietly.

After a minute a quiet, "I know…" was heard.

DG turned toward the plant a little. "I used to hide during balls too."

"Why did you hide?" DG could see a corner of a gold coat now. The poor thing had an outfit to match his mother's dress.

"Balls were so terribly boring. And I hated my clothes…"

"I do too!" Lex's voice was quick to agree. "I don't like my outfit, but Mama said I'd look nice…" his voice sounded distressed.

"Well what's wrong with it?"

There was a pause before, "I don't like the color…"

DG chuckled and awed. "Aww, well, let's see if we can change the color, shall we?" she offered her hand.

"Really!?" he shifted behind the plant.

"Really, really," DG held up a glowing hand.

"Mama said I haven't found my light yet…"

DG frowned. She knew Lex was having trouble with magic, and people figured he wouldn't have any because he was a boy.

"Well, I can help you look for it first, and if we still can't find it, I can change your outfit myself." There was no response. "Come on. I don't bite…"

Lex hesitantly came out from between the plants and sat beside her. He put his hand in hers and his green eyes lit up at their glowing hands. He sat very still, almost afraid of the warm sensation going through him now. DG leaned towards him but looked out at the crowd. "Now. What color do you like better?" she asked, trying to distract him.

There was silence while Alexander scanned the crowd. After a moment he mumbled, "I don't know…"

"Well…" DG thought for a moment. "What about this color?" She changed his clothes to a light blue color scheme.

Lex looked startled for a moment at the sensation and then made a face at the color. DG laughed, "Okay, what about this?" A light pink shrouded him now.

Alex raised his eyebrows looking horrified and shook his head. She smirked and changed it to olive green, like her dress. He gave her a withering look.

"Ha-ha, alright, alright," she looked down to see that their hands were glowing brighter by the second. Apparently all he needed was to feel what magic was like, so that he could find his own. "Do you want to pick this time?" she asked, nodding to their glowing hands.

Alex's eyes widened at the sight and looked up with a bright smile that DG couldn't help but return. "It's easy. Just close your eyes and picture the color you want your clothes to be. Then let your light flow around them. Let it tell them that they want to change."

He nodded and looked out at the crowd for a moment before closing his eyes. DG watched him as she felt an unfamiliar tingle of magic go through her.

After a moment he opened his eyes and looked down to see a dark brown covering him. He looked up, wide-eyed to DG, who was grinning like an idiot.

"Nicely done, Lex!" She told him with a smile. She stood up and pulled him off the bench as well, motioning him to spin around. "Not too bad at all," she winked at him.

Alex grinned, but hesitated before bouncing to her, flinging his arms around her waist. "Thanks, Aunt D!"

She wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "You are very welcome, Sweetheart."

"I'm gonna go show Dad!" he exclaimed, already pulling away.

"Alright, I saw him over there last," she pointed towards the food as he took off. She smiled to herself before collecting the empty plates and cups and taking them to the trash. She looked up when someone stopped on the other side, facing her.

"I see you're having a more social evening than people originally thought," he said with a knowing smile.

She almost blushed, and looked him up and down for a second before fixing him with a different knowing look. "I like the color of your suit tonight, Tin Man…"

Cain glanced to where Alex was bouncing in front of his father. "Seems you're not the only one," he said with a half smile.

She raised her hand in defense as he moved towards her. "I had nothing to do with his choice."

"Yeah…sure you didn't," he mumbled when he stopped in front of her, giving her a soft smile. Her eyes twinkled and she returned the smile. He leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to hers.

Her smile faded and she stuck her bottom lip out after he pulled away. She groaned, "Ughhh, I have to go mingle now, don't I?"

He grinned before pressing another kiss to her lips. "We can leave in a little while if you want…"

Her lips twitched into a smile. "Sounds like a plan, Tin Man!" she said before kissing him quickly again and heading into the crowd. "You owe me a dance later too!" she called over her shoulder.

As DG began mingling, she saw Az chewing out some guards. Phrases like, "Are you completely incompetent!?" and "He's 4! How hard can it possibly be to find him!?" could be heard.

DG drew near, and finally cut in, "Oh would you calm down, Az! He's perfectly fine!" Az looked at her disbelievingly. "He has been all night."

Az's eyes narrowed. "And how would you know, DG? You've been off in the corner all night, eating! Why don't you just hold up a sign that says you're pregnant!" A few gasps were heard around them.

There was a(n ironically) pregnant pause before DG recovered. "First of all: Not funny. Second – I've been sitting next to Lex _all _night! That's how I know he's been safe! And that's why I've been carting all of this food around all night! Besides – he's not hiding anymore…" she pointed to where Alex was running around his father. "So stop acting like the Sorceress – you're going to give someone a heart attack!" DG turned and stormed off, leaving a shell-shocked Az behind, and Cain hiding a smile.

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Sometime later, Cain was informed that Alex was missing again. Cain rolled his eyes and told Azkadellia to call off the search because he knew where Alex was.

Cain made his way over to the bench in the corner again and smiled. DG was leaning against the pillar again, with Alex snuggled into her side. Both were fast asleep.

Maybe a wayward Prince wasn't so hard to find. Especially if there was a mischievous Princess involved.

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A/N: This just makes me smile – though I don't know where the anger/upset-ness towards Az comes from….but whatever


End file.
